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NEWS AROUND PRISON AND LAW / AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA2 May 2006AUSTRALIAder gypsy jokers biker club aus perth hat eine klage gegen ein speziell gegen sie gemachtes gesetz vor dem west australienischen supreme court eingereicht. das sog. anti-festungsbau-gesetz gibt der polizei die befugnisse teile des von ihnen als "uneinnehmbar"bezeichnetem hauptquartier der biker zu zerstören . angefochten wird dabei der passus des gesetzes nachdem die polizei dem richter für eine solche verfügung geheime beweise vorlegen kann. weder die betroffenen noch deren anwälte haben ein recht diese beweismittel zu sehen. Bikies battle police powers in courtLONG-RUNNING animosities between the Gypsy Jokers Motorcycle Club and West Australian police spilled into the state's Supreme Court yesterday as the bikies challenged police orders to pull down part of their headquarters. The Government's long-running battle to break the power of the motorcycle gang will now go to the state's highest court, as the Gypsy Jokers fight the "anti-fortification" laws specifically passed to enable the police to break up their redoubt in Perth's eastern suburbs and seize their assets. The Jokers say it is outrageous, and unconstitutional, that the court is being asked to make its decision on whether to enforce the partial destruction of their fortress based on confidential supporting documentation from the police that they are not allowed to see. Yesterday's court session marks the latest battle in a long-running war between police and the motorcycle gang which has involved a bombing and shooting. The feud has centred on the October 2000 shooting death of gang member Billy Grierson, which many members blamed on former CIB chief Don Hancock. Hancock and his friend Lou Lewis were killed in a car bombing the following September. Gypsy Joker Sidney Reid confessed to the murders of Hancock and Lewis, striking an unprecedented deal to testify against his mates in return for a 15-year jail term. But the man he claimed had planned the bombing, Gypsy Joker sergeant-at-arms Graeme Slater, was acquitted of the murders by a jury. Now the Gypsy Jokers are mounting a constitutional challenge to a section of the state Government's tough anti-fortification laws, introduced in 2003 to target their impenetrable headquarters The Corruption and Crime Commission Act 2003 allows police to issue "tear down" orders at a place that is "heavily fortified" or "habitually used as a place of resort by members of a class of people ... whom may reasonably be suspected to be involved in organised crime". A controversial section of the act allows police to support their case by submitting secret evidence to a judge that the defendants or their lawyers are not allowed to see. Yesterday, Supreme Court judge Peter Blaxall said the state's highest court - the court of appeal - must decide whether that section of the law was unconstitutional. Lawyer for the Gypsy Jokers, David Grace QC, and lawyer for the police, George Tannin SC, agreed. Justice Blaxall has previously expressed concern that the bikies' lawyers would be forced to argue for their clients without knowing the case against them, and he said this offended the principles of the justice system. 30 April 2006AUSTRALIAflüchtlinge die auf den ausgang ihres asylverfahrens warten, wird ein sog. überbrückendes visum e (bve) ausgestellt. menschen mit bve?s ist es verboten zu arbeiten und sie haben keinen anspruch auf medizinische behandlung . dadurch treten vermehrt krankheiten bei kindern auf, die durch unterernährung und hunger entstehen. das asrc ( asylum seeker resource center) unterstützt migrantinnen mit lebensmittel und medizinischer hilfe. Right to food; right to health; unjust immigration regulations for asylum seekersThe Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a local organization, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) (www.asrc.org.au), of the Australian Government’s current refugee policies, which deny asylum seekers the right to food and right to health. The right to food is a fundamental human right, however thousands of asylum seekers fleeing persecution in their homelands and seeking asylum in Australia are denied the right to food by the Australian Government. Under Australia’s harsh refugee policies, thousands of asylum seekers are forced to live in the community on a Bridging Visa E (BVE) whilst they await the outcome of their Protection Visa Application, a visa that requires the determination of the refugee status of the applicant under section 36 of the Migration Act 1958. Bridging Visa E’s deny asylum seekers the right to work, free or subsidized Government-sponsored medical services (Medicare), and access to income. Due to their lack of income, asylum seekers are often unable to provide themselves with adequate food. The ASRC alone has been presented with many cases of asylum seekers, including children, suffering from malnutrition and hunger-related illnesses who are then also unable to seek assistance for hunger-related illnesses due to the denial of Medicare. Four such cases are mentioned below. All names have been withheld. DETAILED INFORMATION: Case 1 A mother from Burma, in Australia on a BVE, was living in a run-down house when she brought her three-year-old daughter who had scabies to the ASRC. The victim had had a rash and had been itching for 2 weeks. Scabies is well documented as a disease that is caused by poverty and malnutrition. The victim’s mother was very worried and embarrassed but she was unable to buy washing powder or food as she has no income. The ASRC health program was able to give the victim treatment for the scabies as the victim’s mother did not have any money to pay for it. However the services should have been provided under the State’s international obligations such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICSEC and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Case 2 A six-year-old girl whose mother is from Russia and is on a BVE repeatedly presents at the ASRC health program with chest and ear infections. She is often lethargic, is underweight and her iron levels are borderline. The victim has been treated with antibiotics, multivitamins and encouraged to eat more. Her mother cannot afford enough food or meat or fresh vegetables, as she is not allowed to work and has no income. Thus, it is very difficult for the victim’s weight to increase and her immune system to improve. With no Medicare the victim’s mother is unable to take the victim to the doctor without having to pay over US$ 40 for each visit, so instead she travels a long way to bring her to the ASRC. Case 3 A ten-year-old girl, who was born in Sri Lanka but has lived in Australia for five years with her parents and sister on a BVE, recently presented to the ASRC with stomach pains and no appetite. She is underweight and has intestinal worms. Her family has no money for worm treatment and cannot buy enough food or food of good quality so the victim just eats rice on most days. She also often has toothaches but could not go to the dentist because her family could not afford it. Other children from low income families in Australia can go to school dentists for free if they have a health care card but without Medicare it is not possible to get a health care card so the victim was ineligible for any free dental care. Case 4 A mother from China who is living in Melbourne on a BVE with her husband and 2 young children presented at the ASRC health program with her two-year-old child. The victim was born in Australia and received his first vaccinations in the hospital with no problems, but when the victim’s mother went to the local council to see the child and maternal health nurse for further vaccinations, she was refused them as she did not have a Medicare card. This put the victim at risk of childhood diseases like measles and caused a great deal of stress for his mother as she worried about his health. The national immunisation strategy states that all children in Australia are entitled to childhood vaccinations. The ASRC, on hearing of the case, were able to successfully advocate for him to receive his vaccinations. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: According to the Australian Department of Immigration’s own statistics at least one third of the 6700 asylum seekers seeking asylum in the community are on BE visas. Asylum Seekers are forced into a life of poverty and left destitute, isolated and made to rely on charity for their survival. They would face starvation if not for the assistance of (mainly) non – government funded NGO’s. Many of the asylum seekers on these visas are families and these policies apply equally to children. This policy breaches Australia’s obligations as a signatory to the Refugee Convention, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The policy of placing certain asylum seekers on BVE’s seeks simply to act as a deterrent and a punishment to people who seek asylum onshore in Australia. Under the Migration Regulations of 1994, asylum seekers find themselves on Bridging Visa E’s for one of the following reasons: The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) places asylum seekers on Bridging Visa E’s for these reasons despite the fact that the experiences of NGO’s are: The ASRC, an NGO in Melbourne that provides aid, health and advocacy services to asylum seekers, assists over one thousand asylum seekers on such visas. The ASRC experience has been that Bridging Visa E’s have a devastating impact on the well-being of asylum seekers. They have also found the following to be some of the consequences suffered by asylum seekers on Bridging Visa E’s: 27 April 2006AUSTRALIAein ergebnis des untersuchungsausschußes , der die inhaftierung einer australierin in einem abschiebelager untersuchte, war die einrichtung einer abteilung im krankenhaus glenside für mental kranke asylsuchende / flüchtlinge. nach neusten berichten wurden in den letzten drei wochen 8 männer statt entlassen zu werden, wie von den ärzten angeordnet, in abschiebelager gebracht und die abteilung ist zur zeit leer. nach offiziellen angaben gibt es derzeit keinen bedarf für die abteilung, sie ist aber nicht geschlossen. Closure of mental care ward damnedSOUTH Australia's Public Advocate has condemned the Department of Immigration and management at the Glenside mental hospital in Adelaide, saying they had shut down a special ward for mentally ill immigration detainees. Glenside's "special stay unit" was opened by DIMA in April last year as a result of the Palmer inquiry into the wrongful detention of Cornelia Rau. Public Advocate John Harley claimed it had been closed in defiance of recommendations in the Palmer report. Glenside's treatment had "dehumanised" eight mentally ill detainees over the past three weeks, he said. One male detainee was moved to Baxter detention centre west of Port Augusta yesterday and the last man in the unit is expected to be moved there today. Mr Harley said Glenside management had "acted irresponsibly" by forcing the detainees to return to detention or another ward of Glenside when their doctors had recommended they be released into community care. Mr Harley, the legal guardian of the eight men, said they did not present a danger to the community, though one had recently informed Glenside director Norman James he would commit suicide if returned to detention. "The treating psychiatrists ... in every one of these men's cases stated clearly in their reports that by returning these men back into a detention environment ... their mental health would deteriorate, placing them at serious risk of either self harm or suicide," Mr Harley said. "Expertise in the proper treatment of the mental health of detainees is being disregarded and discarded." Mr Harley said DIMA had "returned to its practices before the Palmer inquiry", which recommended the South Australian mental health service cater for the needs of mentally ill detainees. But a DIMA spokesman said the department's arrangement with the Glenside facility remained in place and any decision to remove a detainee from the institution would have followed clinical advice. The Central Northern Adelaide Health Service denied the Glenside unit had been closed, saying it was operating on an "as required" basis. "At present, there are no patients in the unit," chief executive David Panter said. "As there are no patients, the Special Stay Unit is naturally unoccupied, until such time that its services are once again required." Mr Harley said the Glenside facility was the only unit of its kind in Australia dedicated to the mental health care of detainees. "Sending these men back to detention is a travesty of justice and inhumane," he said. 19 April 2006AUSTRALIAein 67 jähriger mann , der nach einer haftstrafe am 16. april entlassen werden sollte, soll als sog. seriensexualtäter nach dem am 3.april verabschiedeten gesetz unbegrenzt inhaftiert werden. die 4-tägige anhörung vor dem supreme court beginnt am 8. mai und der richter hat die staatsanwaltschaft aufgefordert einzelheiten aufzuführen für eine angemessene überwachung außerhalb des knastes . Paedophile faces indefinite detentionTHE New South Wales Government was set to push for the indefinite imprisonment of a serial paedophile in a supreme court test of its new laws. William John Gallagher, 61, has a history of sex offences dating back to the 1970s. He was due for release last Sunday after serving two years and three months for indecently assaulting a 13-year-boy in 2003. NSW Crown Advocate Richard Cogswell, SC, has previously told the court Gallagher once escaped prison, breached his parole, failed to register with the child sex offender register, and has always reoffended quickly after release. Mr Cogswell has applied to keep Gallagher behind bars under a bill passed by Government on April 3 this year that granted it new powers to lock up high-risk sex offenders indefinitely. Justice Peter McClellan today set down the matter for a four-day hearing in the NSW Supreme Court, starting on May 8. He asked Mr Cogswell to provide details of how Gallagher might be appropriately monitored if he was released into the community. "It does seem to me that this legislation does raise some serious questions in relation to what processes can, or would, be put in place that might enable the release of people under appropriate supervision," Justice McClellan said. Gallagher's barrister Andrew Haesler, SC, today signed off on consent directions requiring that he undergo independent psychiatric assessment. 14 April 2006AUSTRALIAasylsuchende, die mit einem boot das festland von australien erreichen, sollen auf eine der inseln vor der küste in abschiebelager gebracht werden. vor fünf jahren hat die regierung behauptet diese inseln wären nicht länger teil australiens. nach der neuen anordnung wären dann die menschen nicht mehr berechtigt in australien asylanträge zu stellen. Detention camps for migrantsAsylum seekers who reach mainland Australia by boat will be sent to island detention camps in a toughening of its refugee policy, it was announced yesterday. Critics said that the new law was a dangerous erosion of the country's obligations to refugees under international law. Five years ago the government declared that the islands off Australia's coast were legally no longer part of Australian territory. The new policy means that even those who get to the mainland will be sent to the island camps, denying them the right to claim asylum in Australia. "Any claims to refugee status will be properly assessed at an offshore location," said the immigration minister, Amanda Vanstone. "People found to be refugees will remain offshore until resettlement to a third country is arranged." The announcement was seen as an attempt to avoid further inflaming tension with Indonesia after 42 people from Papua reached Queensland and were granted refugee status last month. Jakarta reacted furiously, recalling its ambassador and threatening to halt co-operation on security and other issues. Indonesians saw the decision as an acknowledgment of human rights abuses in Papua and a sign of Australian support for the province's separatist movement. 9 April 2006AUSTRALIAseit april 2005 wurde 656 angehörigen oder freunde von inhaftierten besuche in knästen von new south wales verboten, weil sie bei den 85.000 durchsuchungen schmuggelware hatten. Over 650 jail visitors bannedMORE than 650 people have been banned from visiting New South Wales prisons after being caught attempting to smuggle in contraband ranging from a meat cleaver to chocolates in the past 12 months. NSW Justice Minister Tony Kelly said 656 friends or relatives of NSW inmates had been caught since April 2005 last year and were facing bans of up to several years. Only a fortnight ago, an inmate's mother was forbidden to see her son for two years after allegedly trying to smuggle marijuana and two mobile phone sim cards into Goulburn jail in an M&Ms packet. The woman was accompanied by two men who, when caught, struggled with correctional officers and had to be subdued with handcuffs. Mr Kelly today reminded visitors that it was a serious offence to bring contraband into NSW's 30 correctional centres. "Visitors have a clear warning, risk trying to smuggle contraband into our jails and you will be caught, potentially charged and face bans from the jail," Mr Kelly said. "And if you're caught with illegal contraband like drugs, then police normally lay charges." In the past 12 months prison officers have conducted more than 85,000 searches of visitors at NSW jails, finding 210 drug stashes and 96 articles of drug paraphernalia. Visitors attempted to smuggle in 19 mobile phones and 39 weapons, including a woman who was caught with a 29cm meat cleaver while visiting a Sydney jail. "Mobile phones are a big concern, they can be used either for escape attempts, to organise crime from inside, to threaten or intimidate witness or they could be used for terrorism purposes," Mr Kelly said. 6 April 2006AUSTRALIAder justizminister hat angekündigt bei riots in jungendknästen zukünftig "spezial riot einheiten" einzusetzen. zitat: "[...]junge verbrecher die denken sie können gegen das system ankommen ,werden umdenken müssen-besonders wenn sie auf diese speziellen teams treffen.... ausgerüstet mit dem ganzen arsenal der anti riot ausstattung. diese haben die erlaubnis die anti riot hunde einzusetzen und durch die ermächtigung des kommissar der vollzugsbehörde kann jeder riot mit chemische waffen aufgelöst werden.[...]" Special riot teams to go to youth detention centresSpecialist riot response teams will be sent into the state's eight juvenile detention centres, including the Orana Juvenile Justice Centre in Dubbo, to control violent disturbances. In the past two years there have been three riots in juvenile centres where police have had to be called in. Juvenile Justice Minister Tony Kelly says the Government will introduce legislation to allow the teams already used in adult jails to be sent into juvenile centres when there is trouble. "Young thugs who think that they can buck the system will have to think again - particularly when they are met by these specialist teams ... equipped with a full complement of riot control equipment - they have the authority to use riot control dogs and with the authority of the Commissioner for Corrective Services, they can use chemical agents to resolve any riot," he said. 5 April 2006AUSTRALIAdas telekommunikations unterbrechungs ( zusatz) gesetz von 2006 erlaubt das abhören von telefonen und das lesen von e-mails und sms von jedem, auch wenn er nicht verdächtigt wird. sog. "b-beteiligte" sind alle personen die mit einem menschen kommunizieren der einer straftat verdächtigt wird oder "eine gefahr für die nationale sicherheit" ist. jede kommunikation die diese "b-beteiligten" führen , einschließlich der familie, freunden, arbeitskollegen anwälte und ärzten haben, wird dann mitgelesen oder gehört. die ermächtigung für die asio ( australischer geheimdienst) menschen in geheimgehaltenen knästen zu inhaftieren und zu verhören wurde um 10 jahre verlängert. ohne anklage können menschen zukünftig 14 tage inhaftiert werden. New phone-tapping powers in AustraliaA further wave of police-state laws is currently being pushed through the Australian parliament without the Howard government even claiming any new terrorist threat. The measures—six bills so far—are in addition to the detention without trial, sedition and “advocating terrorism” legislation passed by the federal and state parliaments just before Christmas. Virtually no media coverage has been given to the latest laws, even though they will authorise the government and its security agencies for the first time to intercept the telephone and email communications of completely innocent people. They will also extend the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation’s (ASIO) secret detention and interrogation powers for a decade, effectively making them permanent. The Telecommunications Interception (Amendment) Act 2006, which was pushed through both houses of parliament last week, permits the federal police and ASIO to covertly monitor or read anyone’s phone calls, emails, SMSs and other “stored communications”. This power extends to so-called “B-Parties”—innocent people who have, even if unwittingly, communicated with someone suspected of a crime or of being a threat to “national security”. Intimate or confidential conversations that “B-Parties” have with other people, including family members, friends, work colleagues, lawyers and doctors, can be bugged. This includes discussions with a lawyer under legal professional privilege. The authorities can use the information collected for many purposes, including to initiate prosecutions, even if it is irrelevant to the original suspect. To obtain an interception warrant, ASIO need only show that it is “likely to assist” in obtaining intelligence “related to security”. These vague terms leave vast room for arbitrary or political use. There is no protection against the government eavesdropping on conversations involving Members of Parliament and journalists, who rely on confidential sources. By intercepting calls to mobile phones, the authorities can also trace a person’s movements. Federal and state police and other law enforcement agencies can have a tap in place for up to 45 days, while ASIO warrants last for three months. Claiming that it was “urgent” to do so, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock bulldozed the bill through in a matter of days, brushing aside a Senate report in which MPs, including government backbenchers, appealed for a series of modifications to soften the Bill’s obvious “Big Brother” connotations. These amendments included confining interceptions to people “suspected of engaging in the planning of, or other involvement in, terrorist acts or murder”. The defeat of that amendment only serves to confirm that these measures, like the more than 30 other pieces of “anti-terrorism” legislation already passed since 2002, are not about protecting ordinary people from terrorism. Rather, their purpose is to hand draconian powers to the security and intelligence agencies to spy on and move against ordinary people. The “war on terror” has already been used as a cover for a rapid expansion of tapping. According to the latest official statistics released by Ruddock, 3,028 intercept warrants were granted in 2003-2004, a 41 percent rise since 2000-2001. In the early 1990s, less than 250 warrants were authorised annually. These figures provide only a partial picture, however, because they exclude ASIO warrants, the numbers of which are kept secret from the public. Moreover, the legislation requires the major telecommunications providers, such as Telstra, to provide ASIO with intercept data which they have obtained, ostensibly for the purpose of maintaining network integrity. In addition, there are now powers to plant surveillance and tracking devices on people, vehicles and premises, whether or not the subjects are alleged to be involved in any crime. During the first half of 2005, 257 warrants were issued under the newly-introduced Surveillance Devices Act 2004. On March 29, Ruddock tabled amendments to strengthen and continue, until 2016 at least, ASIO’s interrogation and detention powers, which were first introduced in 2003 with a three-year sunset clause. Under this regime, ASIO can interrogate someone for up to 48 hours, if an interpreter is required, or detain them for up to a week for questioning, simply because it alleges they may have information relating to terrorism. This is an addition to the measures introduced late last year, which allow for secret “preventative” detention for up to 14 days and for house arrest for as long as a year at a time. Ruddock’s move followed a bipartisan review by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, in which Labor MPs joined their government counterparts in backing the powers as a “useful tool”. Although the committee recommended a new five-year sunset clause, Ruddock said a decade-long extension would match the 10-year period agreed by the state Labor governments for last year’s laws. Ruddock claimed the amendments enhanced “rights and safeguards” for people under questioning or detention. He did not mention the lengthening of questioning periods by discounting time spent on procedural matters, handling complaints, legal advice, medical attention, religious observances and recuperation breaks. A handful of minor concessions only underscore the far-reaching character of the powers. Subjects will have an explicit right to contact a lawyer—but ASIO can still vet the lawyer; the monitoring of subject-lawyer communications will be banned under questioning warrants—yet, will still be allowed in detention; and the authorities may permit subjects to inform their families or employers of their detention—but only as a matter of discretion in some circumstances. The parliamentary report gave a censored glimpse of the use of the powers between mid-2003, when they were introduced, and mid-2005. It said questioning had occurred 14 times, while no one had been formally detained. The questioning, described as “polite and dispassionate, if persistent,” lasted for as long as 43 hours spread over nine days. Apparently little evidence was produced, because only four people were charged with any offence as a result. Predictably, none of the 25 former judges handpicked to serve as “issuing authorities” to authorise and monitor the interrogations had rejected a request by the attorney-general for a questioning warrant. Yet, lawyers who testified before the committee expressed outrage that the warrants gave them and their clients no information whatsoever about the alleged reasons for the questioning. ASIO has probably carried out many more interrogations without warrants, or parliamentary knowledge, by threatening its targets with detention if they did not cooperate. ASIO’s and the government’s contempt for democratic scrutiny was underlined by the fact that passages were deleted from the report “at the request of ASIO,” even though the committee “did not accept that the content ... constituted a national security concern”. In one day, Ruddock also introduced a range of Bills to strengthen the powers of intelligence and law enforcement agencies relating to “border compliance”, “aviation transport security”, “maritime transport and offshore facilities” and “powers of intervention at sea”. All of this has happened with barely a mention, let alone a criticism, in the mainstream media. Once again, there is no real opposition within the media and political establishment to the tearing up of fundamental democratic rights and complete acceptance of the Howard government’s bogus “war on terrorism”. Australia New Security Laws Hunt "Innocents"1. april 2006 Australia's new security laws that allowed tapping phones and searching the e-mails and SMSs of anyone even if they were not suspected of a crime drew fire Friday, March 31, from civil liberties advocates and politicians, who said that the measures went too far. "These powers allow police for the first time to tap the phones of innocent third parties, people who are not even suspected of a criminal offence," Australian Council of Civil Liberties spokesman Cameron Murphy told Reuters. The new laws allow police, intelligence agencies and investigating authorities to secretly retrieve e-mails and text messages from phone companies and Internet service providers. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the new rules were the biggest changes to Australia's phone-tapping laws in 27 years, and updated legislation to take account of new technology. Fishing Expeditions Murphy said the laws would allow authorities to go "on fishing expeditions" to find evidence of criminal behavior or hunt down sources of leaks. Australian Democrats Senator Natasha Stott Despoja agreed. "Conversations between a person and their lawyer, their doctor, their religious leader or their member of parliament can now be intercepted with no consideration for professional privilege," Despoja said in a statement. Ruddock defended the laws, saying they gave authorities the power to fight serious crime. "They ensure law enforcement and security have the investigative tools to continue the fight against serious crime and terrorist activity," he said in a statement. Following the July 7 London attacks in London, Australia unveiled a series of new anti-terrorism laws under which suspects could be fitted with tracking devices. The measures also included holding people for up to 14 days without charge and jail terms for inciting violence. Australian Muslims have complained that they took the brunt of the new anti-terror measures which they say created a climate of fear and apprehension among the minority estimated at some 300,000 or 1.5 percent of Australia's population of 20 million. Social experts have concluded that the Australian government policies of alienation and ignorance of ethnic minorities and Prime Minister John Howard's draconian anti-terror legislation are to blame for the country's rising racism. 30 March 2006AUSTRALIAin einem bericht des commonwealth ombudsmannes wird die 6 jährige inhaftierung eines "mental kranken" mannes bestätigt. der mann ist aus bangladesh, aber die dortigen behörden weigern sich seine staatsbürgerschaft zu bestätigen und die australischen behörden verweigern ein visum. der mann wurde vor vier monaten aus baxter in eine psychiatrie verlegt. Mentally ill man kept in detention for six yearsThe Commonwealth Ombudsman has revealed in a report to Parliament that a mentally ill man, who is dependent on insulin, has been held in immigration detention for six years. The man who is known as Mr X, says he is from Bangladesh, but his home country has declined to recognise him and Australian authorities have refused to grant him a protection visa. The man arrived in Australia in 1999 and has been in detention ever since. The Ombudsman recommends that Mr X should receive a permanent visa and Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone says she will make a decision soon. Labor's Tony Burke says the case is a shocking reflection on the Immigration Department. "My greatest concern is that the department was seriously considering deporting a man to Bangladesh, a man who was mentally ill, physically ill in the certain knowledge that on arrival he would be stateless and within two to three weeks he would die," he said. "The Minister should immediately rule out what the department was considering as unthinkable." Mr X has spent the past four months in a mental hospital. 20 March 2006AUSTRALIAbei mind. 2 seit langer zeit inhaftierte migrantinnen haben sich während der haft "mentale probleme entwickelt" dies wurde jetzt erneut von den grünen anlässlich des seit vier tagen andauernden hungerstreiks von mind. 100 flüchtlingen in sydney's villawood knastes erneut angeprangert. Detainees 'developed mental illness'AT LEAST two long-term immigration detainees ? one held for 6? years ? are in a psychiatric hospital after developing mental problems while in detention, the Greens claim. The man who has spent more than six years in detention, a 34-year-old from Bangladesh, was moved from Baxter detention centre last August to Adelaide's Glenside psychiatric hospital. The other man, whose family are Australian citizens, has been detained for more than two years. "This period of time in detention makes this man another Peter Qasim, the long-term detainee who was recently released after seven years," Greens senator Kerry Nettle said. Their cases have been raised by the Greens as up to 100 detainees at Sydney's Villawood detention centre entered the fourth day of a hunger strike aimed at forcing the release of mentally ill detainees held for more than two years. The Immigration Department disputes the numbers refusing to eat. Senator Nettle raised the man's case after visiting Glenside. "The men I met with today were mentally well when they where imprisoned by the Immigration Department, but have become sick while in immigration detention," she said. It is believed the Commonwealth Ombudsman has interviewed the two men for his ongoing review of long-term detainees. His report is expected at the end of the month. 25 February 2006New Zealandzum erstenmal wurde eine frau zu vorbeugender haft ( preventive detention ) verurteilt. die 25 jährige frau ,die laut anklage eine gefangene schwer verletzt hat und einem wärter den arm gebrochen hat, muß mind. 9 jahre im knast bleiben, die haftzeit ist unbegrenzt . begründet wurde das urteil mit den 13 vorstrafen wegen gewaltdelikten. bisher wurden 208 männer zu dieser unbegrenzten haft verurteilt, die meisten wegen sexualdelikten. Woman's violent history earns her indefinite jailA 25-year-old Porirua woman with a history of violent assaults - some of the most serious committed in prison - has become the first woman in New Zealand to be jailed indefinitely. Kino Hoki Matete was yesterday sentenced in the High Court at Wellington to preventive detention. Justice Forrest Miller imposed a nine-year non-parole period after Matete admitted charges including wounding with intent to injure, causing grievous bodily harm with intent to injure and injuring with intent to injure stemming from three incidents. She was on parole in September 2004 when she attacked a woman she believed had burgled her house with a pocket knife, causing a cut in her arm which required four stitches. While on remand in June 2005 for that attack, she threw a bucket of boiling water over a woman who had ripped off her "jail mum". The woman was hospitalised with severe burns. The next month Matete broke a prison officer's arm after becoming enraged by the way the woman asked her to return a pen. Crown prosecutor Cameron Mander said a lengthy finite sentence was inadequate because of Matete's tendency towards serious violence. Defence lawyer Val Nisbet said Matete's early life was fraught with difficulty and violence. Her adoptive parents separated when she was 10 and she was a ward of the state at 13. She attended secondary school for only one year before spending years on the street and ending up on youth remand in Mt Eden Prison at the age of 15. Justice Miller said Matete had 13 previous convictions for violence, including assaulting a police officer, attacking a woman with a crowbar and hitting another woman with an iron bar. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10369989 First woman to get preventive detention Kino Hoki Matete has a catalogue of convictions for violence and has spent about half her life in institutions. Now her short fuse has led to her becoming the first woman to be sentenced to preventive detention, after she scalded a prison inmate and broke a prison guard's arm. Two hundred and eight men are serving preventive detention, mostly for sex crimes. The judge who sentenced Matete yesterday in the High Court at Wellington, Justice Forrie Miller, called her sentence a "sad distinction". Matete greeted the sentence with a scowl and a mouthed obscenity. With only the briefest touch of her female partner's hand over the high glass partition behind the dock, Matete was taken away to start an open-ended sentence that the judge ruled had to be at least nine years. Justice Miller was forced to hold a second hearing later to correct an error in sentencing that meant he had doubled the potential maximum sentence for one of the charges Matete faced, from seven years to 14 years. The calculation of an otherwise suitable finite term can help decide the minimum non-parole period. Matete had a loving look at her partner, a former prison officer she met while an inmate. It might be the last they see of each other for a long time. Their only contact is by phone since the partner is not allowed to visit Matete. A Corrections Department spokesman says the circumstances of the partner's leaving the prison service was a private employment matter and not the result of an "inappropriate personal relationship" with a prisoner. Not yet 26, Matete was made a state ward at 13 and has spent much of her life since then in institutions. Justice Miller catalogued her previous violence convictions: The 2004 incident put Matete back in prison on remand. A year later a 17-year-old associate lured another inmate close to the bars of her own cell and Matete threw boiling water over her face. She then hurled the rest of the four litres at the woman's back and legs as she tried to flee. The woman suffered severe burns. Other offences Matete had committed had been impulsive, but throwing the water was planned and cruel, Justice Miller said. The victim said she had stood up to Matete's demands for cigarettes. Matete claimed the woman had ripped off her "jail mum". Three prison officers went to Matete's cell about a month later to retrieve a pen. Bailed up, Matete lashed out, breaking the arm of one officer who was trying to protect herself. Matete then head-butted her. Justice Miller imposed preventive detention after receiving medical evidence that Matete was not mentally ill, but he said it was essential that she was offered early and effective "intervention" that took account of her cultural needs. If she was not able to overcome her difficulties she was highly likely to reoffend, he said. Matete's lawyer, Val Nisbet argued she would get help earlier if she was sentenced to a finite jail term, and given a goal to work toward. He said Matete was not a hopeless case. Concern was expressed about the availability and timing of treatment for Matete. Prosecutor Cameron Mander said three mental health experts thought the risk of Matete being violent again was significant, and her willingness to have treatment was "variable". A Corrections spokesman said later that treatment was believed to be most effective near the end of a sentence so Corrections took its lead from Parole Board indications of what was needed before release, and when to aim it. Mr Nisbet said outside the court that an appeal against the sentence was "a real likelihood". 3. March 2006AUSTRALIAdie australische regierung wird einem 11 järigen iranischen jungen eine abfindung von $ 400.000 bezahlen. dies wurde in einer außergerichtlichen vereinbarung ausgehandelt, zu der das gericht bestimmte. der 11 jährige hatte geklagt weil er durch den aufenthalt in woomera und villawood psychisch erkrankte. am gleichen tag wurde der in sydney lebenden familie des jungen eine unbegrenzte aufenthaltsgenehmigung gegeben. Detention 'psychologically harmed boy'THE Federal Government is to pay $400,000 compensation to an 11-year-old Iranian boy who suffered psychological harm in two Australian detention centres, a spokeswoman for the boy's lawyers said. Shayan Badraie sued the immigration department on the grounds he was psychologically harmed while living in Woomera and Villawood detention centres between 2000 and 2002. After months of hearings in the Supreme Court in Sydney, the boy's legal team, Maurice Blackburn Cashman lawyers, accepted a settlement offer of $400,000 made yesterday by Government solicitors, the spokeswoman said. The settlement is due to be ratified in the same court today at 10am (AEDT). The spokeswoman said the family, who lives in Sydney, has also this week been granted permanent Australian residency visas. Shayan attends a school in Sydney, she said. Lead lawyer Rebecca Gilsenan said the settlement should aid in Shayan's recovery. "The settlement is an acceptance of responsibility for the psychological injuries suffered by this child as a result of the shocking circumstances in which he was detained at Woomera and then at Villawood," Ms Gilsenan said. Earlier, Ms Gilsenan told ABC radio the Badraie settlement set a precedent for other detainees who may be in similar positions. "The problems that Shayan experienced were systemic problems rather than ones that were just specific to him, although the particular treatment that he received was disgraceful," she said. "So it's quite possible that there are other children or even adults out there who lived in a similar environment during that time in immigration detention and possibly have similar problems." Ms Gilsenan said Shayan, who witnessed attempted suicides and violence while in immigration detention, had a debilitating psychiatric disorder. "He still has a psychiatric condition and his symptoms fluctuate," she said. "When he is reminded of detention experiences, for example by running into people in the street who their family were detained with, his symptoms deteriorate, so he does have a psychiatric disorder. "Sometimes he can appear like a relatively normal child and sometimes he can be completely disabled by it." NEW ZEALANDin neuseeland wurden die sog. notfallpläne der regierung bei einer vogelgrippe-epidemie bekannt. es gibt zwei pläne. nach dem ersten werden menschen mit geringen strafe oder wegen bagatelldelikten verurteilte entlassen, die knäste dann verschlossen und die restlichen gefangenen sich selbst überlassen. nach sechs wochen sollen die knäste wieder geöffnet werden. die überlebenden sollen dann die toten in massengräber auf dem knastgelände beerdigen. dem zweiten plan nach sollen zwar die knäste auch abgeriegelt werden, aber medizinisches personal wird zugelassen und die wärter und knastbedienstete werden während der zeit ebenfalls mit isoliert. Lock them up to die:
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